Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue answered to fire and water flow alarms coming from the Essity paper plant at 190 Third Street Thursday afternoon.
The first crews were on the scene about 3 minutes after the call at 3 o’clock and found significant smoke in an area near the dock doors. As more firefighters were called for a structure fire, the initial crews found the fire originated in the processing area of the plant and it was already contained. The fire department says sprinklers in the building and a special sprinkler system in and around machinery at the start of the paper-making process had done their job. The fire department says the sprinklers “undoubtedly saved millions of dollars in equipment, product, downtime, and prevented the loss of any lives.”